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As a smaller creature that vaguely resembled a Real Human, I definitely had an embarrassing wannabe skater phase. I dreamed of ramping small wheeled planks off larger, non-wheeled planks while wearing giant, ill-fitting clown shoes. But then my expectations – and, you know, my body – came crashing back down to earth, resulting in lots of blood. So I decided to keep my face far, far away from concrete, and – in the process – bought Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. And then I never went outside again. So I liked it a lot, is what I’m saying. And now Activision’s remaking it – or rather, THPS1 and 2, in a single package – and releasing it on the most skater-friendly platform of all: PC.

So it’s a bit of an odd fit, but I’m not complaining. Later Tony Hawk games got bogged down in pointless storylines and an overabundance of fluff features that clearly resulted from repeated utterances of “Oh god, how do we justify this year’s sequel,” but THPS 1 and 2 were simple fun.

Seeing as we were only getting used to the idea that the Internet might catch on during the PlayStation era, online multiplayer’s the biggest new feature here. Free Skate also sounds nice, given that youthful board-based rebellion shouldn’t be constrained by time limits. And Hawkman – “a game mode where players fly around levels collecting a series of colored pellets before time runs out (think Pac-Man on skateboards)” – at least sounds, er, interesting.

Also, most importantly, roughly half of the original so-bad-it’s-amazing soundtrack is returning – though a who’s who of “Wait, who’s that?” is rounding out the list. Regardless, it’s definitely catering to nostalgia, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit interested. As for when it’ll be causing us all to ponder if it’s possible to be born with a more perfect last name for your chosen profession, there’s no date just yet. The Xbox Live Arcade version is dropping on July 18, but PC’s only been pegged with a vague “few weeks after.” But then, what’s a few weeks when you’re basically purchasing a time machine back to the late ’90s?

Skate was the only skating game I ever really got into. Mostly because of the open worldiness, but also because you could still point/gesture at stuff after you were horribly injured, which was funny, for some reason.

I had a serious Skate problem for all three iterations of the game – and it’s pretty much the only thing I play on my dusty old PS3 nowadays.
The control system was a work of genius, far more nuanced than THPS’ arcade button mash and one that made sense in relation to the real world physics of skating.

Ionno, man. A surprising amount of goths are 40+. I’ve even met one who became a goth after her kids left home and she decided to divorce her husband, whom she never liked much in the first place. She was 40-something at the time.

It was one of the first Tony Hawks through which I first heared of the Ramones and thus starting my very long journey towards some kind of musical taste. Also those games really made my left thumb hurt.
So yeah, definately probably gonna buy this.

I, too, hate when businesses fulfill their end of the supply and demand mechanism by supplying a product that a large enough number of customers demand in order to turn a profit for the business and fulfill the desire of the customers.

I especially hate it when the games they zombify are critically- and popularly-acclaimed classics that not only makes it easier for people who were around to play it the first time to reobtain, but also open it up to a newer field of players.

I also hate it when they listen to people’s concerns that things like the soundtrack are an important part of the game, and go through the red tape maze that is the matter of licensing music in order to provide a better experience.

I really want to play it.
I’ve learned from experience though that things I really want usually come with a serious flaw. So what is it? Starforce? Install limits? GFWL? Always online DRM? Required Facebook login?